Over 500 destitute children are cared for by Scottish Love in Action (SLA), who fund the Light of Love Children's Home and School in Tuni, India. In association with SLA, Everything is New is an international outreach project run by Transgressive North, an Edinburgh-based arts collective. The project has culminated in a film and two epic albums of music featuring recordings of the voices of every one of these children. The aim of the project is to raise funds and awareness, as well as to instigate an empowering experience for the children involved.

Over 500 destitute children are cared for by Scottish Love in Action (SLA), who fund the Light of Love Children’s Home and School in Tuni, India. Most of these children have lost at least one parent. Some have physical disabilities or a parent with a disability or AIDS; some are Dalits, or untouchables. The children are fed, clothed, housed, educated and given medical care, and SLA’s ultimate purpose is to enable them to lead independent, poverty-free lives.

In association with SLA, Everything is New is an international outreach project run by Transgressive North, an Edinburgh-based arts collective. The project has culminated in a film and two epic albums of music featuring recordings of the voices of every one of these children. The aim of the project is to raise funds and awareness, as well as to instigate an empowering experience for the children involved.

Marram Ft. Owen Pallett – “With Us Instead” Music Video

The Film: Everything Is New

Jamie Chambers, the Co-Director of Trangressive North, describes how the Everything Is New project was creatively inspired by music and film, both valued cultural forms within Indian society. The organization wanted these children to experience what it is to be at the heart of creating joyous and celebratory new music and “to see themselves as the heroes and stars of an exciting, colourful movie on the big screen.”

A red carpet premiere for the Everything is New film was organised at one of the local cinemas in Tuni. All 500 of the children saw themselves on the big screen. The elation and pride felt by the children was palpable and both humbling and gratifying for all those involved.

The Music: Marram’s Sun Choir And BOATS

The project’s accompanying albums, Marram’s Sun Choir and BOATS, feature many international and noteworthy musicians. Many of the tracks on these albums share an epic quality, with sonic ranges and depths sometimes verging on chaos, yet often tempered by the raw quality of the recordings of the children’s voices. There are meditative interludes with looped samples, used to ambient effect, combined with the influence of the children’s instinctive chanting, which is a sound deeply entrenched within their everyday culture. Anyone who’s been to India will have experienced a similar saturation of the senses.

Most of the musicians involved worked remotely using samples of the children’s voices, but all took a different approach. American rapper and producer Doseone wanted to create the feeling of a mutual and fun exchange with the children, as if they were in the room together. The result is a rap-like song, which seems almost like a dialogue between him and the children.

Greg Saunier, best known as the drummer of Deerhoof, endeavored to embrace the gulf between the two cultures and languages with a formalist piece of music that eschewed linguistics and focused instead on the sonic poetics of the sampled recordings of the children’s voices.

Tim Rutili from Califone was deeply affected by the children’s voices, which he describes as “beautiful and haunted”. In response to images of “smallness” and “innocence” that the children’s voices conjured up for him, Rutili created a song to affirm their solidarity and strength. The result, “Those Mountains are God’s Teeth”, merges Rutili’s distinctively American drawl and delicate twangs of guitar, with the soaring, almost unearthly ringing of the children’s choir. Echo and reverb swathe the voices atop an ambient synth backdrop, heightening the track’s mystical and epic qualities.

Rutili talks of the capacity for music to induce “momentary unity”, which in turn may plant the seeds of opening up the consciousness. The experience of working with the children’s voices has since inspired him to want to work on further charitable projects.

Marram’s Sun Choir

Sun Choir is a full-length album written for and featuring the children of the Light of Love Children’s Home by Edinburgh based art-pop collective, MARRAM. It features contributions from Jarvis Cocker, doseone, Owen Pallett, White Hinterland, and Scottish folk singer Margaret Bennett, alongside specially composed lyrics by Scottish writers and poets.

The ‘Sagrada Familia’ of post-rave art pop, Sun Choir is an explosive and maximalist mesh of choirs, orchestras and drums featuring more than 1000 voices, musicians, and singers from around the world.

BOATS

BOATS is a 29-track compilation album of exclusive new tracks created by celebrated international artists. Each individual act used samples of the Light of Love Children’s Choir, recorded for Marram’s Sun Choir, to create a new song. As a result, BOATS is a diverse and kaleidoscopic concept-album with the children’s voices at its core.

Conceived and produced by Transgressive North, BOATS features new tracks from Bear In Heaven, Califone, Capybara, Dan Deacon, Deerhoof, Doseone, Four Tet, Gang Gang Dance, YACHT, and more.

An Organically Growing Process

Jamie Chambers, musician and Co-Director of Transgressive North, found himself working in an increasingly responsive way with the children as he became more and more acquainted with their personalities and voices.

“I would spend almost every day recording with the children, and in the evenings, would edit the recordings and put them into place in the songs,” he explains. “This process, and having so much quality time with the kids, gave me a lot of scope to respond to what I was hearing, and to try and increasingly tailor what I was writing to what the kids seemed to respond to.”

The merging of the east and the west, with all its complexities, is embodied within these two albums of music. What shines through is the fragility and open-heartedness found in the children’s voices. Underprivileged children in India love to have their photograph taken, even if they just see it for a split second on the screen of a traveller’s camera. It seems to be an acknowledgement of their being and their worth — and knowing this, it seems impossible not to picture their huge smiles and sense the immense joy they must have felt from being filmed and recorded.

The Everything Is New project has not only raised global awareness and funds, but has also served to acknowledge the existence of these children and their value as human beings.

Chambers describes a particularly poignant experience whilst working with one child in particular, saying, “I would make a habit of letting the kids hear something resembling the finished assembly. I remember, in particular, when I played them their voices on the second verse, singing alongside Jarvis Cocker on ‘What if We’…”

He remembers some accomplished singers amongst the children, including a “wonderful but very shy girl” named Nagalaxmi. “When I put all the pieces together, it just sounded incredible,” recalls Chambers “I remember Nagalaxmi’s face so clearly, her jaw dropped and she clasped both the headphones to her ears so she could hear it as loud as possible. Then she turned to me, and said, ‘Is this me?’ when I told her it was, she just shook her head, asked to listen to it again, and again, and again the next day.”

The completion of the project was marked by a huge listening and dancing party in Tuni on New Year’s Eve, with a huge PA system ringing out with the children’s voices under the stars. It is easy to picture the powerful effect of this on the whole community — as well as the musicians involved.

Says Doseone of the project and its repercussions, “No caste system on earth, no matter how rigid or omnipresent, can take our song from us.”

Information & Statistics about Untouchables

Dating back as far as 1500 BC, sacred Sanskrit texts which lie at the heart of the Hindu belief system, including The Vedas and the Bhagavad Gita, have categorized people based on their occupations. According to Hindu belief, being born as an untouchable is a ramification of bad behaviour in a previous incarnation – and this idea forms the core of what we know today as the caste system. Those on the lowest tier are called untouchables, and the word says it all. They are those who are below any class system, whose interaction “contaminates” the rest of society by sheer incident of their birth.

Untouchables are born into an unalterable social status, allowed only to mix and marry with those from their own caste and to perform only lowly jobs and tasks befitting their “station” in life. This belief system decrees that acceptance of these restrictions and living a virtuous life may lead to an individual moving up the caste system in their next incarnation. Whilst laws made have since made discrimination against the untouchables illegal, it still prevails and remains painfully evident in India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan to this day.

Particularly in the rural areas of India, where the majority of the poor population live, untouchables are banned from temples and higher caste homes. They perform jobs such as cleaning latrines and sewers by hand, or are bonded workers, many repaying debts incurred generations ago. Figures published only fifteen years ago saw 15 million children working in slave-like conditions for less than a dollar a day.

In 2001, Amnesty International reported on an “extremely high” number of sexual assaults on Dalit women, often the victims of landlords, upper-caste villagers, and police officers. Only 5% of the attacks were reported, and 30% of the rape complaints were dismissed by the police as false.

Thousands of pre-teen Dalit girls are forced into prostitution. Named devadasis, which translates to “female servant of god”, they are “married” to a deity or a temple, where they are forced to have sex with upper-caste community members until they are finally sold to urban brothels.

In 2013, national crime statistics indicated an average of over 1,000 rape cases against Dalit women are reported annually, the highest of any social group. Bear in mind the majority of crimes will go unreported, and murders of rape victims often go unpunished.

"I have always felt strongly about equal opportunity for women. Girls have to be taught from early on that they are strong and capable of being anything they want to be. It's up to us to change the statistics for women around the world. I'm honored to be in the company of women who live fearlessly and set an example for the next generation." - Beyoncé Knowles-Carter

I’ve yet to feature a mainstream pop artist in such a way, but given the latest Beyonce tour and the fact that I am just about to board a plane to South Africa for the next two weeks, I’ve decided to stray from the unpopular into the excessively popular. Highlighted in this post is one of Beyoncé’s latest performances of the Timbaland-produced “Grown Woman”, which impressively intersects American pop culture with traditional African imagery as well as dance moves. The entire performance also fits in nicely with charity work, as an added bonus.

This will be one of two Africa-related posts to come in the next couple weeks — the latter of which will be a round-up of significant South African music videos. Stay tuned, for the next one will be amazing.

SEE BEYONCE’S “GROWN WOMAN” LIVE PERFORMANCE IN THE FULL POST

Beyonce – “Grown Woman”
Live Performance

There certainly is some cause to worry about the generic Africanization of all things in the projections for “Grown Woman”, what with the rolling of Egyptian headdresses, safari animals, and a wide array of African patterning into one generic Africa — but there are definitely some good causes underlying this particular performance, and some Fela Kuti-related connections worth nothing.

According to Okayafrica., “Grown Woman” features percussion and chanting by musician Ismael “Bonfils” Kouyaté of Guinea, who is currently performing on the Fela! tour. Also present on the background visuals is Nicole De Weever, former Fela! dancer and founder/director of Art Saves Lives, a non-profit dedicated to helping the homeless through art.

But all of the sociological implications aside, the dance moves in this video are just wicked, as mind-blowing and impressive as those of Beyoncé’s never-forgettable “Single Ladies” — stiletto heels and all. If this isn’t a badass lady, I just don’t know what is.

Chime For Change Non-Profit Organization Profile

The performance of this female-empowering track took place at the Chime For Change benefit concert in June. Chime For Change was founded by Gucci, with Beyoncé, Salma Hayek Pinault, and Frida Giannin as co-founders.

Chime For Change is powered by Catapult, a crowd-funding site that allows non-profits to post their projects so that people can fund the issues which speak to them most. Their website profiles various women and focuses on three major tenets of change through education, health, and justice, and seems to be a good indicator of the positive work that’s being done through the organization.

“I have always felt strongly about equal opportunity for women. Girls have to be taught from early on that they are strong and capable of being anything they want to be. It’s up to us to change the statistics for women around the world. I’m honored to be in the company of women who live fearlessly and set an example for the next generation.” – Beyoncé Knowles-Carter

Beyoncé – Grown Woman Lyrics

[Verse 1]
I remember being young and so brave
I knew what I needed
I was spending all my nights and days
Laid back, daydreaming
Look at me, I’m a big girl now
Said I’m gonna do something
Told the world imma paint this town
Now bitches, I run this (Aah!)

[Pre-chorus]
Cause I put it
Down like that (2x)
And I’m making
All these racks (2x)
And I’m moving
Round like that (2x)
When I do it
I don’t look back (2x)

[Chorus 1]
I’m a grown woman
I can do whatever I want
I’m a grown woman
I can do whatever I want
I could be bad if I want
I could do wrong if I want
I can live fast if I want
I can go slow all night long
I’m a grown woman
I can do whatever I want

[Verse 2]
You know the way I walk
Because I walk with a vengeance
And they listen to me when I talk
Cause I ain’t pretending
It took awhile now I understand
Just where I’m going
I know the woman, I know who I am
It’s about time I show it

[Pre-chorus]

[Chorus 2]
I’m a grown woman
I can do whatever I want
I’m a grown woman
I can do whatever I want
I could be bad if I want
I can say what I want
I can live fast if I want
I can do whatever I want
(Whatever it is!)

[Bridge]
I’m a grown woman
So I know how to ride it
I’m a grown woman
And I’m so erotic
I’m a grown woman
Look down, got you so excited
I’m a grown woman
Look at my body
It ain’t no fun, if a girl can’t have none
You really wanna know how I got it like that
Cause I got a cute face and my booty so fat
Go girl!
She got that bomb, that bomb
That girl!
Can get whatever she wants
Go girl!
She got that tight, that tight
Them boys!
They do whatever she like

In 2012, we promoted and completed an Indiegogo fundraising campaign to aid us towards our goal of becoming a publication that inspires “conscious growth thru arts journalism”. Thanks to kind-hearted donations from 33 funders, we were able raise just over $3.5k to use towards more in-depth feature articles, graphical web layouts, and the promotion of interdisciplinary events. Thanks to all of these wonderful people for believing in us.

In 2012, we promoted and completed an Indiegogo fundraising campaign to aid us towards our goal of becoming a publication that inspires “conscious growth thru arts journalism”. Thanks to donations from 33 kind-hearted funders, we were able raise just over $3.5k to use towards more in-depth feature articles, graphical web layouts, and the promotion of interdisciplinary events. Thanks to all of these wonderful people for believing in us.

Jesse Dienner is a designer, writer, and musician based in the SF Bay Area. He is currently mixing and mastering an EP.www.jcddinc.com

Robert Hardgrave has been a key player in the Seattle arts scene for quite some time. “snowtrack”, a dizzying black-and-white piece representative of his latest body of work, creates a world that seems to fill endlessly with stairs, slides, and wooden panels. Up and down become constantly inseparable, while stand-out figures — a wheel, a coffin, a C…? — catch one’s eye and confuse one’s mind even further.www.roberthardgrave.com

Mihae Jung is a Prevention & Development Staff Member at WAPI, a Seattle-based organization that helps colored youth in the Seattle area deal with substance abuse and dependency issues through counseling, drug treatment programs, and arts and education programs.www.wapiseattle.org

Erin Kendig is a Seattle-based illustrator and artist who enjoys exploring complex themes with her artwork, such as: “the interplay between the micro and macro, how the many comprises the whole, ideas of perception and psychology, issues of connection and disconnect, relationships, the triumphs and failures of language and the narratives we construct.”www.erinkendig.com

Working Brilliant‘s latest artist, Lee Koch, found some success on NBC’s The Voice — and on his latest folk-Americana record, he takes inspiration from true love and marriage, and his rediscovered love of traveling and performing. “Trusty Branch” is the first acoustic single, and you can download it here.www.workingbrilliantly.com

“Partnering hip-hop artists with charitable causes is nothing that I made up… but they’re infrequently covered by the media, perhaps, unless they’re related to a tragedy.” — Dessa

Over the years, Dessa has been able to stand out from the Doomtree collective, which is apparent on her most recent album, Castor, the Twin which recalls the halcyon days of conscious hip-hop groups like The Fugees, Questionmark Asylum, and the Pharcyde. With her cemented individuality apart from the likes of P.O.S. and Lazerbeak, Dessa sees her nonprofit outreach as a bonus part of her burgeoning success.

Typically, when musicians reach out to the community, it’s something that coincides with attempting to make public amends for some misdeed. With Doomtree’s singer/emcee, Dessa, she’s reaching out to communities in need, sans agenda or public relations retooling; she’s helping people because she can and wants to.

Schools Dessa Has Worked With

“It’s definitely a perk,” she says, “finding ways to help support the causes that move me. It’s pretty recent, the past two or three years. Before that, I wasn’t in the position to make any cause more visible, because I was in the process of making myself as a musician more visible.”

Through the years, Dessa has worked with numerous causes, schools, and organizations – much of which has been dedicated to helping troubled youth and battered women; she has also been a speaker at the Nobel Peace Prize Forum. More recently, Dessa has teamed up with The Elixery, a makeup manufacturer that has taken her namesake and turned it into a shade of lipstick to help the needy.

“Elixery… is cosmetics company out of Minneapolis, and they put out a shade of lipstick called ‘Dessa,’ and one-hundred percent of the proceeds go to the organization CARE.org, which is dedicated to helping destitute women around the world. The proceeds of Dessa will go to help equip and educate these women to pull themselves out of poverty.

Another event of note that Dessa has been a part of is the “Evening with Dessa,” an intimate performance at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts (MIA). The event, which happened at the end of February 2013, was held to benefit a new teen scholarship program for the area’s youth, an audience typically looked at as a market niche rather than the next bastion of artists and leaders.

“The MIA was looking for an event for a scholarship program and they approached me, knowing that I’ve done the work,” said Dessa. “It was an easy project to align with.”

“Partnering hip-hop artists with charitable causes is nothing that I made up,” she is quick to note. “I’m very much taking cues from the likes of everyone, from Nicki Minaj to 50 Cent, to Russell Simmons; [from] P.O.S. to I-Self Devine…. but they’re infrequently covered by the media, perhaps, unless they’re related to a tragedy.

“[Supporting community organizations] is part of the fabric of hip-hop culture.”

Lansè Kòd (The Rope Throwers) 1996 Every year, Carnaval comes and goes across the entire world, tantalizing everyone with its fanciful costuming and celebratory antics. But beyond the tourist circuit of Carnival lies another Carnival, in locales with a connection closer to the festival’s origins. Haiti is one of many countries that celebrates Carnival at...

Every year, Carnaval comes and goes across the entire world, tantalizing everyone with its fanciful costuming and celebratory antics. But beyond the tourist circuit of Carnival lies another Carnival, in locales with a connection closer to the festival’s origins. Haiti is one of many countries that celebrates Carnival at their own pace, and over the course of many years, photographer Leah Gordon was able to capture the beauty of those festivities in Jacmel, a coastal town in the south.

Kanaval is a black and white photographic series, true — but it is, more importantly, a series on awareness, about culture, and inclusive of mythology. After this series was taken, Haiti suffered its devastating earthquake and Jacmel was completely decimated. Gordon’s photographs, along with her heart-felt introduction to the series and the many oral mythologies passed down to her from carnival participants, can be viewed in the full post. Together, they forever capture a wonderful space in time and call attention to Haiti’s creative and spiritual existence.

We begin with a tale from Madanm Lasiren, which is just the first of many.

Madanm Lasirèn (Madame Mermaid) 2003

Madanm Lasiren
Andre Ferner, 59 years

Lasiren is a spirit that lives under the sea and does mystical work there, she is a Vodou spirit, I dream of Lasiren all the time. That is the reason I do Lasiren for Mardi Gras. I chose Lasiren because my grandmother, father and mother all served the spirits, I love her & honour her. The baby that I carry in my arms is the child of Lasiren who is called Marie Rose. When I walk the streets I sing her song which goes ‘ I am Lasiren and I cry for Lasiren, when I work mystically in the night bad luck can come my way’.

I prepare for Lasiren by putting on a hat, a mask and carrying an umbrella. I put on a necklace and gloves. This necklace is called Mambo Welcome, it is a fetish. Because Lasiren is a fish she has to disguise herself as a woman to be at Mardi Gras. My mask and hat cover her fish’s head. And the dress she wears covers her fish’s tail. The chain I wear is a sacred chain. Each year I change the disguise and fashion a new baby. In order to get inspiration I go to the place where the big beasts live and they instruct me how to do Mardi Gras. I have been doing this for 18 years. Before that I did another Mardi Gras call Patoko. This was a group of men who were dressed as women, with a nice dresses and high heeled shoes. We did a marriage between men and woman on the street. After that we had a group called the duck who carried brushes in their hands wearing blue trousers, white t-shirts, new sandles and a scarf around our waists. We swept the streets of Jacmel. I have always found a way of doing a Mardi Gras.

Kanaval will be on display for free at PHI Centre in Montreal (407, rue Saint-Pierre), from February 25th to April 27th, 2013. Opening night happens at 7:30pm on February 23rd, and its $175 ticket price (or a $400 VIP ticket) includes Haitian food, giveaways, and performances by Haitian dance groups, Haitian band Doody and Kami, and The Arcade Fire, who have a blog dedicated to their own trip to Haiti.

All proceeds will go towards KANPE, a non-profit “born of a desire to play an integral part in the fight to help Haiti break free from a vicious cycle of poverty”, through programs in health, education, agriculture, counseling, and other community services. Full event details can be seen at PopMontreal.

(12 IMAGES TOTAL)

Esklav Yo (The Slaves) 2001

Jij (Judge) 1995

Gordon’s introduction to her series, Kanaval:

“Haiti seems to be on a fault line of history. Whilst much of the rest of the world seems to have efficiently papered over any cracks where history could accidentally seep, bubble or explode with a veneer of consumerism and wage slavery. Haitian culture is a potent vessel for this history, continually transmitting, telling, retelling and reinterpreting Haitian history. Though school fees are excessive for the majority of the Haitian people, and the education standards poor, you will be hard pushed to find a Haitian who doesn’t know the vast and intimate details of their own history.

Haiti’s history is not an easy one, but it is a significant and important one. It is the history of the decimation of the indigenous Taino Indians by the Spanish invaders. Subsequently it is the history of the most profitable, and correspondingly brutal, French colonial plantation system in the Caribbean, which was fuelled by the Transatlantic slave trade. The intensity of French barbarity in the pursuit of profit, coupled with whispers and rumours of the French Revolution in Europe, led to the Haitian revolution. This was an uprising of African and Creole 1 slaves against the white plantation owners. By the late 18th century dissent was rife amongst the slave population. In 1791 the dissent came to a head and turned into a rebellion which led to a 13 year struggle for the freedom from slavery and finally independence.

Vodou was both the inspiration and precipitation of the long fight for Haiti’s independence. On 23rd August 1791 2, a Vodou priest called Boukman performed a ceremony at Bwa Kayman, in the north of Haiti. Slaves and maroons 3 gathered from all over the region. Boukman sacrificed a black pig for the African ancestors, and in its blood wrote the words ‘liberty or death’. Inspired and invigorated the slaves returned to their plantations and spread the message of rebellion. Within days the fertile plains of cash crops were burning with a passion for freedom that did not dampen until independence in 1804.

May 1803, former slave and rebel leader Jean-Jacques Dessalines dramatically created the flag of the black insurgents at the Congress of Arcahaie. He took the French tricolour of blue, white and red, and ripping the white out of it, declared he was ripping the white man out of the country. The red and blue were stitched together, the initials RF (Republique Française) were replaced by Liberté ou la Mort, ‘Liberty or Death’, and Haiti’s flag was born. Time was finally running out for the French rulers.

The diffusion and transmission of Haitian history uses the drums, songs, dances and possessive ritual of the Vodou religion. It uses the improvisational songs of Twobadou groups and the collective melodies and rhythms of Rara bands. Haitian history uses the words and poems of its great literary tradition and the unique visions of its painters, sculptors and flag makers. Haitian history, and not only the revolutionary history, is also replayed through the masks, costumes and narratives of the carnival in Jacmel.

Each year, Jacmel, a coastal town in Southern Haiti, holds pre-Lenten Mardi Gras festivities. Troupes of performers act out mythological and political tales in a whorish theatre of the absurd that courses the streets, rarely shackled by traditional parade. Whatever the carnival lacks in glitz and spectacle, it makes up for in home-grown surrealism and poetic metaphor. The characters and costume partially betray their roots in medieval European carnival, but the Jacmellien masquerades are also a fusion of clandestine Vodou, ancestral memory, political satire and personal revelation. The lives of the indigenous Taino Indians, the slave’s revolt and more recently state corruption, are all played out using drama and costume on Jacmel’s streets. There have been many times that the future of Jacmel’s carnival has appeared unstable, but it continues to struggle and survive. Haitian culture is tough and resilient, as it needs to be. It is a vibrant, living avatar for not only Haitian history, but for all our histories. Carnival is dead, long live Kanaval.

This introduction was written two weeks before the dreadful earthquake in Haiti. I have been haunted by the almost prophetic first line. I decided I didn’t want to change it. The suffering on the human level and devestation on the material level in Port au Prince is hard to contemplate. All the churches have fallen and all the morgues are still standing. Many of the houses have fallen but all the tombs in the cemetery are standing. It is as if Death has won its bet against Man and God. The beautiful old town of Jacmel, where all these photographs have been taken, has been decimated. As I numbly traipse along what remains of the historic Grand Rue in downtown Port au Prince I realise that architecture has always been another avatar for history. In Haiti the material was always transient and weak, and now feels almost none existent, but the imaginative and creative is fierce. If there is a positive side, perhaps it is this, that people will sit up finally and really take notice of Haiti’s creativity. Haiti has so much to give and we really should be grateful that such a genuinely unique place exists. Kanaval is not Dead. Long Live Kanaval

1 Caribbean born of African descent.2 Named International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition by UNESCO.3 Runaway slaves living in remote mountainous areas in close-knit communities.”

Kouvrefe (Curfew) 2009

Bounda Pa Bounda (Cheek by Arse) 2003

Chaloska (Charles Oscar) 1998

Chaloska (Charles Oscar)
Eugene Lamour a.k.a. Boss Cota, 61 years

The Chief Charles Oscar was a military commandant in charge of the police in Jacmel. He died here in 1912. He was tall and strong with big feet and teeth and feared by all. At a time when there was political instability in Port-au-Prince, when President Sam had just been assassinated, Charles Oscar took his chance to take 500 prisoners from the local jail and kill them all. There was so much blood it made a river of death. The population was so angry that that revolted and tore the police chief to pieces in the street and burned him down. He was killed in the same violent way that he had treated the people.

This story has always been very striking to me, and in 1962, I decided to create the character of Chaloska for Carnival. I designed the military uniform and made the big false teeth with bull’s teeth bought from the market. Each year I change the costume a little by designing a different hat for the group to wear.

When I created Chaloska I also wanted to create some other characters to go along with him. I created Master Richard and Doctor Calypso. Master Richard is a rich man with a big bag full of money and a huge fat stomach. He walks with the group of Chaloska buying justice and paying the judges. He represents the impunity and corruption that hides behind Chaloska and is the real chief of the city. Doctor Calypso is an old hunch back with a black suit and a stick in his hand. He works for Chaloska and checks on the health of the prisoners, always reporting that they are healthy when they are dying.

These characters are still here in Haitian society so it is good to parade them on the street. It is a message to all future Oscars that you will end up this way. The group goes to different places in town threatening the people. The boss Chaloska always finally dies, and the others call for mercy as they are cowards, but then another Chaloska immediately replaces him. This is to show the infinite replication of Chaloska which continue to produce the same system. There will be Chaloska until the end of the world. They started with the beginning and will not end until the end.

Pa Wowo (The Way of Wowo) 2004

Pa Wowo (The dance steps of Roro)
Edmond Paul, 30 years

Pa Wowo is a Mardi Gras that I’ve been doing for a long time. It is part playing around and part theatre on the streets of Jacmel. We try to create an ambiance of festivity. Pa Wowo has created a character, a role he plays scenes just like theatre, as it’s an ancient Mardi Gras. He has a pipe because in the past all peasants had pipes in their mouths. He has a skirt of leaves because it is part of his disguise. The skirt is a symbol and the skirt means everything. It is the best symbolic costume for the Pa Wowo because he doesn’t have any family, he doesn’t have any thing, no-one to help him, not even the possibility of his own clothes to wear. So Pa Wowo represents someone who has nothing, no-one, nowhere to stay and no money. Truly people understand my message, which is if you have something you must help those with nothing. I have done this Mardi Gras for 15 years. I decided to do it to give continuity when the last person that used to do it died. I’m not sure it will continue after I am gone but I am always fighting to do it whilst I still can. Over the years Mardi Gras has a lot of sections missing and I’m doing Pa Wowo to make sure that carnival has a good power and to make sure that Jacmel shows a good face to the world. Because firstly I am a Jacmellian. But you know exactly if we keep trying perhaps Jacmel carnival is the best in the world. We feel that carnival in Jacmel is important for the face of Haiti in the world but it is always a fight as the government never supports us.

Zèl Maturin (The Wings of Maturin) 1995

Zel Maturin (The Wings of Mathurin: character from the St. Michel Mardi Gras)
Ronald Bellevue, 40 years

We did not invent this story. It came from older people, but we are keeping the tradition going. As a child I was scared to death of the Zel Maturin but the very next thing I wanted to see was to see them again. My favorite Zel Maturin is the red devil as he is always the strongest, most resistant and goes on until the end of the play.

The play is a fight between good and evil. The first scene has people with suits, ties, tuille masks and bibles all kneeling and praying. In the second scene St Michel the Archangel come from heaven to give them protection. With him are other angels in pink satin dresses and a small angel in blue and white. Then the Zel Maturin arrive to steal the angels.

There is a long procession of Zel Maturin but St Michel kills them by using his mighty sword. The strongest devil, the red devil, myself, arrives. This devil fights much harder but after a long struggle he is finally killed. All the devils lie dead on the street conquered by St Michel the Archangel. But then the black devil arrives. He is bigger than the others and wearing chains. He is chained mystically because his mystic powers are so strong that he must be restrained. He carries a skull and presents it to the four cardinal points and hits the red devil three times. Once the red devil is revived all the other devils leap awake. The black devil is a Vodou devil whereas the other devils are just Christian devils. The Vodou devil has greater forces than the Christian devils. As you can see from the masks on the wall I am not exactly a bible person, well you don’t play the part if you don’t like the part.

Gason Bo Kote Lanmè-a (Boy by the Sea) 2000

Nèg ak Konk (Man with Conch Shell Horn) 2001

Fantonm (The Phantom) 2009

All photographs are shot on black and white film on a Roleiicord 2 ¼ sq camera and are 95cm sq Giclee Prints on Hahnemuhle Fine Art Paper mounted onto di-bond aluminium.

Gordon’s book, Kanaval: Vodou, Politics and Revolution on the Streets of Haiti is also available for purchase on Amazon.

The music video for tUnE-yArDs’ “Bizness” fluttered through the internet as a colorful extension of main lady Merrill Garbus’ long-standing style of bridging movement, geometric facepaint, and playful insanity. It was Garbus’ first video to reach the extreme masses, and it, along with the music video for “My Country”, were directed by San Francisco’s Mimi...

The music video for tUnE-yArDs’ “Bizness” fluttered through the internet as a colorful extension of main lady Merrill Garbus’ long-standing style of bridging movement, geometric facepaint, and playful insanity. It was Garbus’ first video to reach the extreme masses, and it, along with the music video for “My Country”, were directed by San Francisco’s Mimi Cave. They are both exercises in give and take between dancer and creator, and spontaneity and choreography, and both give young children the opportunity to participate in a professional art project.

In the Q&A below, Cave speaks with REDEFINE about the creative process behind the videos, and we take a look backwards at the role of movement in tUnE-yArDs music videos through the years.

Looking back on tUnE-yArDs music videos reveals that there is a longstanding tie between contemporary dance and her music. Was building off this history and maintaining a sense of cohesion important in your work with “Bizness” and “My Country”?

Yes. I think Merrill and I have always connected on the grounds of movement, particularly modern dance. I got to know Merrill while I was backup dancing for her at a few shows, so elements of dance have always been there.

How was it working with children in both the “Bizness” and “My Country” music videos? Had those children worked with performing or dance-oriented music videos before?

I love working with kids and think they have the capacity to be some of the most natural performers. The kids in these videos each have different backgrounds and experiences, although everyone has had a common interest and willingness to experiment with movement and expression. We had a blast.

MIMI CAVE INTERVIEW CONTINUED BELOW

tUnE-yArDs – “Bizness” (2011)

tUnE-yArDs – “My Country” Music Video (2012)

“To create the “My Country” video, tUnE-yArDs had immense help from the San Francisco Rock Project, a nonprofit music school that offers musical education to kids through the experience of learning and performing rock music.

Many of the kids you see in the video are Rock Project kids: they’ve taken private lessons in electric guitar, bass guitar, drums, keyboards and vocals from working musicians, they’ve rehearsed in bands made up of kids of all ages, and they’ve learned the art of performance through regular live, public shows in legitimate music venues. They learn the basics through performing rock music, and as a result, they develop into original, confident, inspired musicians…

SF Rock Project would like to start a “lending library” of instruments to offer students. If our Kickstarter campaign succeeds, they will be able to reach even more young people with their unique form of music education. The school will use the funds to purchase guitars, bass guitars, ukuleles, percussion instruments, a keyboard, and more to be used in the SF Rock Project LIVE SHOW this summer, which will be a celebration of this campaign!”

“I just feel like I’m finally seeing an intersection of a way where you can be an activist and concerned with your community. [But] it’s hard; I want to live my life and have money, but it’s good to… question yourself… like, ‘Am I giving back enough?’ or, ‘Am I doing enough?'”

Are the children in the “Bizness” and “My Country” music videos both from Brightworks and San Francisco Rock Project? Can you tell me a bit about those organizations and how they were benefited from these videos?

Each video had a different cast of kids. The “Bizness” cast was mainly students from a public elementary school in San Francisco, while the cast from “My Country” came mainly from Brightworks and SF Rock Project. After the “My Country” video, Merrill started a Kickstarter campaign to raise money that would go towards purchasing instruments for kids. She exceeded her goal and I feel like the best thing that resulted from the video was the generous participation in that fundraiser.

Is there an underlying narrative or concept to the two pieces? How closely did you and Merrill work together on those themes?

Although they both incorporate kids, to me they are very different pieces. “Bizness” was a narrative I had in my head that morphed and transformed as the production went on, whereas “My Country” has a more direct, visual correlation to the lyrics in the song. Merrill and I worked together to make sure each idea represented the music music in a way that she felt excited about. Outside of that, Merrill was extremely trusting and encouraging of my direction throughout both processes.

Who was responsible for the choreography?

In “Bizness”, I was lucky to work with my great friend Sonia Reiter developing choreography for the dancers. A lot of the movement you see in “Bizness” is improvised as well. “My Country” is almost all improvised movement from both Merrill and the kids. Often we will improvise together — them in front of the camera, me off-screen, building something as we go. I like working with performers that aren’t afraid to experiment and push themselves a little. Merrill has a fantastic energy and is easy to work with.

In early 2011, as the turmoil from the Arab Spring protests made their way into pockets of Africa, Angolan youth began taking to the streets themselves. At the heart of their ongoing dissatisfaction remains the 32-year reign of President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who protesters cite as the cause of mismanaged oil revenues, suppressed human rights, and widespread poverty, amongst other corruptions. 1

One early advocate for the protests include hip-hop musician Luaty DaSilva, aka Ikonoklasta, who openly voiced his support for the uprising during one of his February 2011 concerts, listing government officials as “exploiters of the oppressed” while the crowd responded to push them “out!”

In June 2012, DaSilva departed Angola for Lisbon, Portugal, to play with the Kuduro band Batida. DaSilva’s supporters at the Angolan airport warned him that his luggage had been tampered with by the National Crime Investigation Department, and DaSilva decided that upon arrival in Lisbon, he would tell customs that he suspected foul play. But he never made it there, as the police were upon him as soon as he got his luggage. A kilogram of cocaine was discovered in DaSilva’s luggage, but the presiding judge of the case set him free, because, in Luaty’s words, “the framing was so gross that not even the judge bought it.” 2

For the following month-and-a-half, DaSilva stayed in Portugal, and has only just returned to Angola. As he shares in the interview below, he suspects that the government “must have something ready for me, some sort of “warm welcome home” for when I return on the 25th of July.” He is just one of a handful of musicians known to have faced persecution. 3

The 2012 parliamentary elections are to be held in Angola on August 31st — hypothetically the first time the government will respect the constitutional deadline of having four years between elections. Yet despite this fact, which ostensibly seems to be an improvement, demonstrators both young and old have seen an intense increase in violence in the past year, much of which has been captured on video and disseminated widely via the internet. As recently as July 15th, several hundred protestors, knowing very well the potential dangers which faced them, risked likely violence from security forces and protested in the Sao Paolo market. Twelve were arrested, including two journalists working for Portuguese publications, sparking a call for the postponement of the August elections until free and fair polls can be guaranteed. 4

In the following Q&A with REDEFINE, DaSilva gives his perspective on the situation in Angola, offering a point of view from the young and frustrated underclass, in both Portuguese and English.

“In 2011 President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, in power for 32 years, faced an unprecedented wave of criticism. Inspired by the pro-democracy Arab Spring movements, Angola witnessed an incipient movement of anti-government protests. In response, authorities used excessive force to crack down on the protests, most of which were organized via the internet, and curtailed media coverage of the demonstrations.” — Human Rights Watch

Protestors Facing Violence From Angolan Security Forces

You encouraged protestors to speak out against the government at one of your concerts. What was your role in the protests prior to and after that? Was there a particular point when you decided that enough was enough, or have you long been dissatisfied with the government?

I will start from the second half of this question: I have always been dissatisfied with governments in general, mine in particular. I grew up under the impression that politicians were the biggest crooks walking the earth, their cynical and pompous behaviour having always raised suspicions that they were not to be trusted to manage whole population’s resources. The more I grew, the more I solidified the impression, that grew into a blind certainty, that politicians are foul, looking after the interests of the rich and powerful whilst finding ways of elluding the rest of us with neatly written and celebrated concepts of democracy and freedom that are not applied in day-to-day life.

Now, how active was I before that concert? That March 7th demonstration was the beggining of a new era where, symbolically, the youth broke the mold of fear and took it to the streets, without beating around the bush to what the purpose were: decomissioning of this never elected, senile president. Before this demonstration, I was just making music; I’m an hip hop artist and my lyrics are very often socially/politically inclined. I’ve been doing it since 1994, but it wasn’t until 2002 that I started speaking out against the government.

“What I feel is: everyone is fed up but most people are terrified of losing whatever little commodity they have conquered by publicly admitting it. I was told that even within the MPLA (the ruling party which we fight against) there are many people who silently support us. To what extent is that true I cannot say.”

Considering the fact that Angola has an education deficit reflected by its catastrophic literacy rate (aprox. 70%) 5 and that only a mere 10% of the population has access to the internet 6, I’d say technology played a small part in mobilization from within. It did help keep both the lucky 10% inland and the rest of the immense diaspora abroad [informed], something that wouldn’t be conceivable a few years back where everyone had to rely on perfectly controlled, manipulated Angolan media. The videos we’ve captured on protest days were simply divulged on the internet, which helped spreading the sense of indignation amongst our fellow countrymen and foreigners who cared about what was taking place in Angola.

As far as the “influential people” are concerned, I don’t think any of them have played pivotal roles, since most of the people that are somewhat trusted by certain segments of the general population (amongst them one of the country’s ex-prime minister), did little more than voice their support for the youngsters in very limited public means. Few people had access to it. There’s a huge information clot in Angola promoted by the government either by state media or by coercive/dissuasive methods employed within “privately-owned” media, which is the only explanation (besides illiteracy) for the effectiveness of archaic tools used by the regime to hold on to power for so long. 7

Not yet. I’m still in Europe where is a bit harder to do me wrong without making too much of a fuss. They must have something ready for me, some sort of “warm welcome home” for when I return on the 25th of July [to my jungle].

I wish I could speak of this matter being able to sustain my theory with undeniable evidence, but the fact is I can only speak about my own experiences and from what I observe daily — from interacting with other people and hearing their private opinions, or from surfing the internet, a place where people maintain a relative anonymity and speak more freely. What I feel is: everyone is fed up but most people are terrified of losing whatever little commodity they have conquered by publicly admitting it. I was told that even within the MPLA (the ruling party which we fight against) there are many people who silently support us. To what extent is that true I cannot say.

The election in Angola will be held on August 31st. Violence and action taken against protestors seems to be ramping up. What do you envision happening between now and then, and what is the ideal scenario you hope for?

I have no hope in ideal scenarios. There are none. The ideal scenario is Dos Santos stepping down, the elections being delayed for a few months in order to make the whole process transparent (which is everything but up until now), but this would be pure wishful thinking. Violence will carry on as long as there is dissent, and taking into account the escalation of violence we’ve been witnessing lately, homicide is not to be discarded. 8, 9

What issues and government wrongdoings are people most fired up about?

Que problemas e erros do governo são as pessoas mais raiva?

People are weary of (mis)governance by the same party, 37 after gaining independence. Moreover, people finally have realized that war was a pretext to justify the incompetence of the government in managing public affairs. Generals and government officials have become pornographically enriched by the many years of civil war and are completely shameless in their shameful display that, judging by their arrogance, seems to give them the feeling of being untouchable, superior beings. People are tired of systematically seeing their most basic rights appropriated by those who must enforce them, charging them fees known as “gas” to earn them. I speak essentially of the right to health, education and employment. In every country there is corruption that is only controlled by counter-powers among them — perhaps most importantly, the pressure of public opinion. In Angola is controlled by public opinion or misinformation or psychological terror, thus creating the feeling that people are resigned to the rhythm of “work” of the government, accepting that they can not go faster, tolerating that they continue to use to war as an excuse. But that’s a lie; anyone walks in the street know that the population does not fall in this trap.

Everyone, having contact with interviews like these, is spreading the information and must act according to what your conscience dictates, and you do what you can. I will not enumerate the various ways that exist to help, because I believe that each person is aware of their ability to interfere. I am glad if there is sufficient disclosure so that the number of people aware of what is happening in Angola, in widely different countries, is more comprehensive.

It is no secret that the economic depression that has commanded the nation for the past four years has taken its toll on everyone. School districts nationwide are especially feeling the budget crisis, as falling tax revenues has forced some to get creative. Be it via hacking a month off of the school year or forcing teachers to take furlough days, it is, in the end, students who lose out most from these funding struggles.

Portland’s favorite beard metal band Red Fang are more known for their PBR-swilling music videos and heavy riffs than they are their level of social engagement. But when the Grant High School art department needed some funds to keep the art flowing, Red Fang did what all good metal bands would do: threw a benefit show. Like a carwash fundraiser, only with less bikinis, more beer, and more beards.

In this interview, Red Fang’s vocalist and bassist Aaron Beam talks about why the band got involved, and Maliq Rogers, a Sophomore at Grant High School, explains what impact the budget cuts have on his band, Hell’s Parish, and the other students at the school.

“I think we need to re-program society to put a bigger emphasis on the arts, so that it would be inexcusable to cut an arts programs funding in the public schools.” — Aaron Beam

A Benefit For Grant High Art Department is scheduled to take place Friday May 25th at the Hawthorne Theater in Portland, Oregon. Red Fang will be headlining the event with support coming from Lopez, Nether Regions and Grant High’s own Hell’s Parrish. Doors for the show at are 7:00 pm with the first band hitting the stage at 7:30 pm. Tickets can be purchased for the show HERE.

A Note From Hell’s Parish

My name is Maliq Rodgers, and I am the drummer of Hell’s Parish and a sophomore at Grant [High School]. Grant is facing cuts in many elective classes, especially the arts. Our art classes are already running low on supplies and we have to change plans to work with our lack of supplies. Language classes are being cut as well. An active arts program helps kids find new ways to express themselves and have fun, and to explore different activities that they wouldn’t have in other places. I’ve been taking some form of art through every year of school, and it’s something that lets you branch out and express yourself in new ways and have fun [while] doing. The emphasis on standardized testing takes away from the arts in some ways, because core classes are the main priority of the education system, and that isn’t going to change. Schools typically focus on English, Social Studies, and Sciences.

Art isn’t something you can always put into numbers and scores, but for someone who wants to pursue a career in some form of art, these classes can hold lots of value. Schools often hold fundraisers and benefits like the one we’re playing, but that’s not enough to fund the art programs. The economic struggles are nothing that a small group of people can fix, and the budget cuts aren’t something that can change instantly. Personally, I think that everyone should try to share the knowledge that education is losing money. Maybe if enough people talk about it, someone in power will do something to change the situation. Nothing’s easy, but people need to know what’s going on and the more support the schools have, the better.

For more opinions on the topic, please visit any of the following links and articles:

An Interview With Red Fang

Answers from bassist and vocalist Aaron Beam

How important is an active arts program in a kid’s youth? Was it important in your youth?

Extremely important. It develops the creative part of the brain which is useful in all aspects of life, whether you end up being an artist or not. It was utterly essential for me as a youth, considering I was not a very communicative person [and] felt very separate from my peers… the arts were really my only real form of emotional expression.

With such an emphasis being placed on standardized testing and such, do you see ways for schools to try and place any emphasis on arts with such limited funding available?

I love The Economist newspaper, but in their views about American public education, I believe they are dead wrong. They repeatedly tout school programs (such as the ones Jeb Bush put in place in Florida) which tend to improve the metrics used for evaluating students’ success. But those metrics always involve standardized tests, so what is really being measured is the effectiveness of teachers at training kids for tests that are most likely irrelevant to their future contributions to society. The impact of an arts education cannot be measured directly, so there is no way to justify its necessary expenditures in a board meeting.

School districts across the nation (and super especially in Oregon) are facing such extreme budget cuts in the face of the economic struggles, do you see any ways to make arts programs more self-sustaining?

There probably are ways to make arts programs more self-sustaining, but I think that is not the direction we should be heading. I think we need to re-program society to put a bigger emphasis on the arts, so that it would be inexcusable to cut an arts programs funding in the public schools.

What will the funds for this benefit go towards, and how has the reception been on-campus with students, staff, etc.? Is the plight a shared and known one?

I think most parents of high school-aged kids in Portland know about what is happening at Grant. I cannot answer specifically where the funds will go, but I have heard they will benefit all arts programs at Grant High (photography, sculpture, painting, etc.). As far as the reception goes, the art students are very excited, and some of the kids from one of the sculpture classes have a heavy metal band called Hell’s Parish who will be performing at the benefit. The whole thing came about because a friend of mine is a teacher at the school, and she brought the funding issue to my attention.

I read that while you were in high school, you helped set up music programs for schools due to lack of funding. How was that accomplished then, what does this twenty year difference in contrast feel like?

That is not quite what happened. While I was in school, we got wind that due to budget cuts, the marching band at my school (Fort Collins High School) was going to be cut. A group of students got together and attended the school board meeting at which the final decision was to be made, and we each stood up and presented our arguments for keeping the marching band program. The board ended up voting to keep the marching band.

In all honesty, I sort of hated marching band (which was required for anyone who wished to play in concert band), but I was proud of the fact that we had one of the more successful bands in the region, and I also felt that regardless of my personal feelings about participating in marching band, that A) it is not fair to deprive other people who might want to participate, B) cutting any part of a high school’s music program would set a very bad, dangerous precedent, and I could not allow that to happen.

Have you guys been involved with other benefits/charities, and/or do you have any plans to?

We have performed a few other benefits, mostly for friends who have gone through trying times. Unfortunately, we cannot spend all our time doing benefits/charity shows since we need to be able to feed our families with income from this band, but whenever the circumstances allow and the cause is a good one, we re eager and willing to help in whatever way we can.

What is your creative process for coming up with THE BEST MUSIC VIDEOS EVER?

In April 2012, La Dispute announced their latest charity benefit project, Conversations, a packet consisting of a hand-assembled and multi-dimensional collection of items courtesy of La Dispute themselves, writers involved with 826michigan, and the band’s artist friends. All proceeds from Conversations benefit 826michigan, a branch of Dave Eggers’ literacy organization, 826 National.

In this feature, we speak with vocalist Jordan Dreyer about their work with 826michigan and highlight all of the organizations they have worked with in-depth. As La Dispute continue to use their youth and energy to benefit the less fortunate, this on-going article will be updated to reflect their continued humanitarianism.

I’ve known about 826 nationally and 826 San Francisco for some years now, kind of the obvious route, through reading Dave Eggers when I was in high school, and I’ve always been pretty attracted to the organization itself because I think it’s unique, in that it has a really creative approach to what it does — a very youth-oriented approach. It’s not like it’s just a program for creative youth; it is a program that is creative and youthful, I guess, kind of bizarrely and redundantly. So that was appealing to us, and trying to work with organizations that promote literacy has always been another important thing for us, so it kind of encapsulated multiple things we hold close to our hearts, and we also wanted to do something that was local, so we would see a more immediate impact. So rather than going through the national organization, we decided to work specifically with the one in Michigan.

Was there one particular point in La Dispute’s career that you guys decided you were doing well enough or you were influential enough as a band that you wanted to start supporting organizations you cared about? Was it something you thought about from the beginning or something that just kind of popped up?

It’s always been important to us to utilize the resources that we have as best we can. The first thing we did that was charity[-oriented] was we put Here, Hear III up for download by donation a few years ago for Christmas. That was really our first foray into charity, and it was really rewarding to be able to… we didn’t raise a ton of money, but to put it out there and give people the opportunity to help and raise awareness, no matter how much you’re raising fiscally, is a really satisfying thing. Everything goes a long way. Every little thing counts, I guess, so it’s been kind of how we operate as a band, as we just now have more resources to utilize. It’s expanded the ways in which we help out. We did stuff on our last European tour; we gave [a portion of] the merch we sold to an organization there, and when we were in Australia, we did the same thing, and the 826 thing has kind of been a work-in-progress for a long time. It’s kind of invariably woven into us right now, I think…

The other thing that’s important with us is to work with organizations that seem to have a lot of transparency and have people we can actually meet and talk to, rather than helping faceless multi-million-dollar non-profits. To be on ground-level, I guess… it’s been pretty cool.

Do you guys get any kind of a feedback loop, other than the profits you raise, regarding listeners who are encouraged to get involved because of your demonstrations?

Here and there. We did the thing a Well House a couple years ago; we played a show in Grand Rapids, our hometown, over Christmas, and we invited a representative from the Board of Directors and also one of the people who was living in one of the houses to come to the show and hand out information. We actually had a couple people volunteer, or offer to volunteer – I don’t know what ever came of it – but they were interested enough that they want and talked and collected information and applied to volunteer. Here and there, you’ll get it, I think, but it’s interesting this time around [with the 826Michigan project]; it really depends where we are. Sometimes we’ll sell a lot of packets and get a lot of feedback, and other times, I don’t think people know they’re there. It does happen, which is cool.

A Timeline Of La Dispute’s Charitable History

826michigan

“826michigan is a volunteer-driven non-profit writing and tutoring center that offers after-school tutoring, creative writing workshops, publishing opportunities, field trips, and in-class support to local schools, all free of charge. It is part of the 826 National network founded by writer Dave Eggers, with locations in Ann Arbor, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington, D.C.”— Brad Vander Lugt, in a blog post

On December 25th, 2011, for a 24-hour period, the band offered up their entire discography for free, with all donations going towards the organization. All proceeds from their sales of Conversations (see above) will benefit the organization as well.

– “Conversations” – an audio interview with Jordan about the stories and themes presented in Wildlife. The interview is also coupled with movements from Chad’s “Mixtapes” (which were ideas recorded on a dictaphone that would later shape some of the songs on Wildlife). Everything is open for interpretation by the listener, of course, but it does give a little more insight into the concept of the record.
– “Snapshots” — a zine of polaroids I’ve taken on various tours and studio sessions surrounding Wildlife.
– Screen printed poster designed by Mr. Adam Vass.
– 4 postcards: a Departure, a Letter, a Poem, a Broken Jar.
– The 826michigan OMNIBUS Vol. 2 — A fantastic and very unique collection of short stories and poems written collaboratively by 826michigan students. (Seriously, it’s awesome. There’s a story called A Shark Named Pistachio.)
– a select few will also include our “First Drafts + Sketches” zine.

There are only 150 of these packets, and when they’re gone, that’s it. $20 each. All proceeds go to 826michigan.

Teenage Cancer Trust

“[They work] to create stable living environments for young people living with cancer, so they don’t need to sacrifice the normalcy of being young, I guess. We got to visit some of their wards and meet with kids, and that was a pretty interesting experience and a lot of fun.” — Jordan Dreyer

“Teenage Cancer Trust aims to ensure that every young person with cancer and their family receive the best possible care and professional support throughout their cancer journey. We know how damaging it is to take a young person away from their everyday life, their friends, their environment, their family – and put them in a cancer ward with small children or older people. Young people have a much better chance in their fight against cancer if they are treated by teenage cancer experts, in an environment tailored to their needs. So we’re working every day to make that happen.”– Teenage Cancer Trust’s website

During the United Kingdom portion of their 2012 European tour, La Dispute gave all of their profits from sales to Teenage Cancer Trust, as well as plastered venues with posters to raise awareness about the organization.

Well House Community Living Of Grand Rapids

“It [provides] permanent residency for people who have struggled with homelessness problems. They do organic farming and… raise income [so they can be] financially independent. That was the first thing we did, and we’re all still reasonably close to everyone at Well House, so that’s cool, too.” – Jordan Dreyer

“Well House Seeks to help provide a transition to permanent housing for homeless women and families, and to provide activities that foster new directions and goals. Well House has offered temporary emergency shelter to women and families since 1978 and is now in the process of transitioning to permanent community living. Over 5,000 people have been assisted over the last 27 years.”– Well House’s website

La Dispute’s Here, Hear series consisted of three spoken-word EPs released over the course of a year-and-a-half. With the release of the series’ third installment, Here, Hear III, the band offered the EPs for download on Bandcamp, in exchange for donations that would benefit Well House. Between December 24th, 2009 and January 27th, 2010, they raised $1755.44 for Well House 1.

“Homelessness is not a simple lack of house. It has to do with a lack of connections.” — Marian Clements, founder of Well House

"We just focused and put all of our worries, frustrations, confusions, sadness into [music]... and whatever that outlet is for you -- whether it be music, arts, writing, whatever it is -- just try to focus on that and become a better person through that frustration." - Terra Lopez

Like a whale call bubbling forth from oceanic depths, Sister Crayon’s 2011 release on Manimal Vinyl, Bellow, is an album dense with emotional weight.

“When I think of someone bellowing, I just see a sad, really powerful thing coming out of someone,” explains vocalist Terra Lopez. “Years of an… exhausting type of feeling.”

Bellow is an aural manifestation of such exhaustion — a collective “bellow” from a group of Nothern California musicians who do not shy away from the fascinations which arise from darkness. Filled with trip-hop beats, soaring operatic vocals, distorted guitars, and delicate synth lines, the sonic universe of Sister Crayon is a varied and complex one. What holds consistent, though, is the band’s fortitude, as they explore parallel emotional states through individualized experiences.

Listening Station

Full Album Stream: Bellow

It Gets Better Project

In September 2010, Dan Savage and his partner, Terry, posted a message on a message on YouTube for LGBT teens everywhere who were facing harassment. The message was simple: “It gets better. However bad it is now, it gets better.” The video was just a small response to a series of bully-induced suicides by LGBT youth.

Since then, The It Gets Better Project has turned into a worldwide movement, inspiring politicians, celebrities, organizations, activists, and personalities alike to submit their own story.

Below is Sister Crayon’s recent contribution to MTV’s It Gets Better special — a reminder to LGBTQ youth that life can and will get better.

Q&A

Since your music draws from such dark places, do you guys think that music helped you out of a lot of problems?

Terra Lopez: Oh yeah.Dani Fernandez: The number-one remedy.Lopez: For me, writing is a form of therapy, because I can’t really afford it, to be honest. There are so many unresolved things, just in life in general, that I’m still trying to process. And the only way to really feel comfortable or okay about it is by singing every night. If we have a tough night or tough day beforehand, I’ll look forward to playing a show because it’s a huge form of some kind of release. And I know for me, if I don’t play a show, I start – if there’s too much of a time period in-between shows, I don’t feel okay; I don’t feel normal. Something’s missing.Fernandez: It definitely shows, too, when we haven’t been playing music. We just feel that there’s a huge part of us missing, and I feel that we all turn to music to help us from day-to-day. In my own feeling about that is that, it definitely has helped me through every part of my life.

How did the band name come about?

Lopez: I have [synesthesia]. So colors have always meant something really prominent but really promising at the same time… that name came about because at the time, it was just a solo project, and it was really quiet; it was under a different name, which was much more reserved. I knew the music I wanted to make, and it wasn’t what I was doing. so I just thought, you know, I wanna make something more powerful and more intense because that’s how I’m feeling, so I wanna somehow find a way to be able to do that, so Sister Crayon was like an alter-ego. I was like, “So that means bold, so I’m going to have to step it up.” You know what I mean? Be more intense. And then yeah, the band just eventually grew, and finally I was able to make that sound that I was looking for.

“Whether or not it starts with something Terra’s written lyrically, or if it’s just a tone or whatever, we kind of agree on the general… vibe or the mood of the song, and we pour any kind of relative feelings or emotions into our instruments and into our voice or our everything,” says guitarist and keyboardist Jeffrey Letour.

“I think our moods all feed off of each other’s,” keyboardist Dani Fernandez continues. She describes how she and Lopez, long-time friends, have always had a complementary artistic relationship. “If one person is feeling something, we all just kind of do… it determines on how the song is written from that point on.”

Early on in Bellow, Sister Crayon lay the foundations for an album of emotionally turbulent material, with both music and lyrics following suit. On opening track, “I’m Still The Same Person,” Lopez evokes morbid imagery, singing, “She showed me what death was like/ She said: take mine, take mine, take mine, like everyone.” Subsequent tracks like “Here We Never Die” and “(In) Reverse” feel nebulous yet suffocating in their use of restraint, as they seem to describe tense bedroom moments and symbolically holding in one’s own blood. Poetic and mythological, Lopez’s lyrics are quite cryptic, making them applicable for any number of hopeless circumstances. Yet, it is only with her admittance that many of her lyrics are personal confessions — words easier for her to set to music than to discuss openly in day-to-day interactions — that one gains a deeper insight into their actual context.

“[Almost] all of the lyrics are mini-conversations to people [who] I could never really tell [things] face-to-face,” Lopez explains, “so the song’s going to be what I really want to tell you, though I may never tell you this was written for you.”

“We just focused and put all of our worries, frustrations, confusions, sadness into [music]… and whatever that outlet is for you — whether it be music, arts, writing, whatever it is — just try to focus on that and become a better person through that frustration.”– Terra Lopez

“Here We Never Die,” for example, was written for Lopez’s former girlfriend, as a passive way for Lopez to declare her love and express the sentiment, “Here is our little universe, [in] this 3-minute song.” “Anti-Psalm,” likewise, was written to her father to covertly express the disdain they have for one another. It contains just a few of the many religious and spiritual references on Bellow, and is partially telling of Lopez’s fascinating relationship to religion.

“I grew up in two completely different households,” she explains. “One household was my mother’s, which was very free when it came to religion; and [one was] my father’s, [who was] a Jehovah’s Witness, so it was very strict, very rigid… I grew up conflicted about religion, in general, and not wanting to believe in any of it. As I’m getting older, that’s why I reference it a lot in lyrics, because I want to believe in a religion or in a spiritual realm, but I’m not quite sure what to believe in yet, so I’m just trying to dissect it and write about it; I’m still looking for it, I guess.”

A sense of oneness — of the almost psychically-bonded type that grows out of sharing a band and a living space — allows for the members of Sister Crayon to feel their way into their sound with ease. Their songwriting process is what they would describe as organic and natural.

“The rawness of those emotions or feelings is something that we don’t always need to think about; it’s just always something that happens,” Letour adds. “There’s a connection; it’s chemistry, and it’s happening individually [and] those things are all shared in a melting pot of everyday life,” Letour shares. “Because we experience it together, we pull ourselves out of it together. So even if it’s something very dark and intense, we can all go to that spot together and rise out of it.”

It is a special and long-standing relationship, of viewing creation as a healing mechanism, that allows for the members of Sister Crayon to understand one another on a deeper level than words. Thanks to music, every member has found a way to express, understand, and sometimes transcend life’s most intense and difficult experiences. To continue the cycle, they encourage others who feel lost in their own skins to find their own paths towards satisfaction.

“The way that [Dani and I] got through [being bullied in high school], was we found an outlet — which was music,” Lopez explans in an interview with MTV for the It Gets Better Project. “We just focused and put all of our worries, frustrations, confusions, sadness into it… and whatever that outlet is for you — whether it be music, arts, writing, whatever it is — just try to focus on that and become a better person through that frustration.”

Bellow is just the beginning of Sister Crayon’s journey as a band.

“There’s a story for each song that kind of builds the premise for what Bellow is,” Lopez explains. “It’s a cool introduction to the band. For the next record, it will be more thorough.”

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“We are very passionate people with a lot of ideas and opinions so we would love to become more involved in the future in the various issues that we believe in. Dani and I have worked in the past for the Marriage Equality initiative in our hometown of Sacramento. All of the members of this band fully support Human Rights, Gay Rights, Marriage Equality, etc. We would love to become more involved in this issue as there is still a long way to go not only for individuals in the United States but all over the world.”— Terra Lopez